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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 24 Feb 2000

Vol. 515 No. 2

Written Answers. - Tobacco Industry.

Paul Connaughton

Ceist:

19 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Health and Children the response sent by him to the letter of 24 November 1999 which he received from a company (details supplied); and if there has been any misunderstanding or mismatch between the expectations of his Department concerning the disclosure of the constituents of tobacco products and the company's understanding of the position. [5003/00]

The offer made by Gallahers on 24 November 1999 to provide representatives of my Department with a presentation concerning the use of constituents in cigarettes has not been taken up by my Department. This was at a time when the company had not yet supplied in a meaningful format the information requested from it on constituents in their tobacco products.

In a letter on 13 January to the director of the Irish tobacco manufacturers advisory committee, which represents Gallahers, Players and Carrolls, it was made clear to the industry that the Tobacco (Health Promotion and Protection) Act, 1988 requires each manufacturer to supply a list of ingredients in their products when so requested. Furthermore it was pointed out that supplying information by broad categorisations of ingredients does not provide any meaningful information.

As far as I am concerned there was no misunderstanding on what information was being sought from the company in relation to constituents used in their tobacco products.

Gallahers submitted to my Department on 4 February the information on constituents in their tobacco products in the format originally sought from the company.
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